"Diamond" in the Ruff...

So there I was...or should I say: So there we were...

Jelaine and I that is. We were visit our local pet world for the humpenth time to check on this puppy who had been there since we found the store basically. This was last weekend and when we walked in, sure enough she was still there. The background to this event is that I go in there often for fish supplies, and Jelaine and I already have one wonderful dog, Second Chance "Legend". Most of you know of him at least. He is a Miniature Pincher. I know Jelaine blog about him before. Well this puppy in the pet store also happened to be a black and rust min pin, but she has been bred unusually small. Needless to say, she is adorable and we, especially I, had become quite attached. So much so that we had even named her. Thus the title. So, as you can see, I, unlike "E", intentionally use my mispellings as a play on words.

Long story short, after watching her live in a glass box for nearly five months we couldn't stand it any more. So we brought a 3.2 lb Diamond home last Saturday and SHE IS AWESOME!!! Since Jelaine keeps Legend, and he was already house trained when we got him, I never really understood how much work it is, and how you have to keep a vigil eye on your pet constantly. But alas it is worth it. The best part is that she plays fetch like a champ. She can't sit or come or heel or anything, but she can fetch her little yellow bear like she has been doing it for years.
So, other than toting around her pink kennel, it is awesome having Diamond around! We just hope her and Legend get along. He loves other dogs, but she barks at herself in the mirror, and is scared of every other dog she has met so far. Hopefully that will change. They will meet each other for the first time over Thanksgiving. How exciting!

Kilroy was here!

PS: Talked to Justin today and we have begun revising the posse plan. I am afraid the sky diving is probably out, but T3...the president and I are type rated in the Beachcraft 400 twin jet engine business liner. I think it holds five passengers, so the ladies my not be able to join us, but we can make it happen. Just got to wait to see if the AB is ever going to come back from Turkey.

This Counts...Right?

So there I was...

...Feeling really bad about not blogging in a coon's age. Well, I was. So I decided to drop everyone a quick line between, cooking dinner, eating dinner, doing the dishes, doing the laundry so that I can pack, packing for a retreat that I am going on tomorrow and printing off the map to get to the retreat. Blah. It has been a really busy day...and a busy week.

You guys all know I was down in Texas. Well I ended up staying down there almost two weeks. Jelaine got to join me there over the long weekend. We wanted to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Despite the circumstances that brought us down there, we had a wonderful time visiting with my family. Jelaine even got to meet all of my extended family...most of them for the first time since we had the wedding in Arkansas.

Anyway, I got back up here and they I have jsut about finished moving over to my new squadron, my "REAL" squadron. I got a squadron T-shirt that I really like. The back just about sums up what we do in one short phrase:

IN GOD WE TRUST - ALL OTHERS WE MONITOR

Well this ended up being a pretty reasonable blog afterall. I hope to catch up with you all a bit next week. God bless!

Kilroy was here!

Need some prayers...

Hey Guys, sorry about being so long in posting. No good excuses. I even had some great things to blog about this week. Last weekend Mom and Dad came up from Fort Worth, and Jelaine came from Ohio to see my first barbershop concert. It was really fun. I also got to take them to the zoo and Jelaine and I went to the Air Show in Lincoln too! I was going to have some really great pictures, but I don't have time right now.

I am in the middle of packing to go to Fort Worth. I am driving down tomorrow because my grandmother is dying. Dad's mother, Nana has very severe alsheimers and is to the point where her brain isn't even reminding her that she needs to eat and drink. So, needless to say, they think she will pass any time now. I believe she is going to see Jesus soon. I know she has always talked of Jesus and always kept the family in church and praying, but pray for her soul anyway. Also please pray for my family. It seems the only time my dad and his siblings get together anymore is when someone dies. I pray that there aren't any complications over funeral services or fights over the will. That is what tore them apart in the first place. And please pray especially for dad. You guys know him, and he is a strong man, but this is his mother. He is the oldest sibling, and a husband, father and grandfather now. He will essentially be the head of the Fondren family. That is a lot of wieght for one person. I know he will want to be strong for everyone else, but he shouldn't have to be. I only hope I can help carry a little of that burden by going down there to be with him, and everyone.

I think it is better at this point to pray that Nana goes peacefully than that she hangs on to her worldly body for a few more feeble moments in eternity. I love her though, and I would like to tell her that in person one more time. One thing I consider a miracle is that she has never forgotten me. I have always been her "Little Armand" (since her husband, my grandfather was Armand) But even when she has forgotten my other cousins or thier children, and maybe even her own children at times, she has always known me...and Jelaine! Just Tuesday mom showed her a picture of us and told her they were up here visiting and she recognized us both and called us by name.

Thanks for your prayers and support guys. You are my family, and I know your thoughts will be with us. God Bless.

Armand II

Museum Mischief

So there I was...

...with Jelaine as an reluctant lookout and "E" as my accomplice. We went to the SAC (Strategic Air Command) Museum. The museum consists primarily of two hangars full of old bombers, fighters and recon planes. Well, you can imagine that we were really into this place and we noticed right away that it had great potential for unauthorized exploration. So we exploited the given potential to our benefit. The three of us were checking out the bomb bay of a B-36. This is the largest bomber ever made. Also the only bomber to never drop a bomb during wartime. If you were the normal tourist, this is what you might have seen.

Well, that wasn't quite good enough for us. So as we were checking out the underside of the plane we noticed that we could see part of the cockpit from the bomb bay. "E" also noticed with his keen and refined since of mischief that I could climb up into the bomb bay and, once concealed inside the belly of the beast, continue unobstructed upwards into the cockpit. Once we committed to the task J decided she had had enough and left the bomb bay. So I got up and in without to much trouble, other than making quite a bit of noise. I climbed over what appeared to be some sort of downward facing radome and through another section into the cockpit. It was pretty cool, and from the picture above you can see that it is pretty high up too. After taking one blurry picture with a malfunctioning camera, I heard our signature "iron will" whistle and assumed the cover was blown. So I returned to the bomb bay and awaited the all clear signal to make like a bomb and drop from the rafters of the bay. Well, as I was ready to jump another official looking man came way to close to discovering the bomb bay so "E" with his cunning techniques of distraction began to discuss the wiring with J as I stood there helpless. Finally, he gave me a quick signal to move. I then proceeded to knock my ear on the rafters as I freed myself from the bowels of the bomber. I know Jelaine was thinking "serves you right," but at least she pretended to be concerned.

Nevertheless, we once again proved our skills of stealth and mischief are still intact.

Our visit with "E" here in Omaha was awesome! Jelaine had to leave Monday for Ohio to start school and "E" took off Tuesday to head back to Texas. I am so glad they got to come up for the weekend.

On another note, I passed my check ride so I will be mission qualified very soon. Praise the Lord for great weather and a great flight. Catch you all soon.

Kilroy was here!

Vice Presidential Flyover...almost.

So there I was...

Flying 3000 ft about the ground 30 seconds in trail of another jet flying an orbit pattern when we get the call: 5 minutes to target. (The target was overhead the Vice President at Offutt AFB at the end of his speech. Unfortunately I was only the B team...what's new right?

What I mean by B team is that we had two jets flying in circles waiting for the end of his speech so that in the case that the first one broke or was out of position we could make the pass instead. The other plane was right on time and had no problems. I guess it worked out pretty well, and it look cool from the air when the other jet peeled off our orbit and over the VP and the stands. Anyway, I'll always be able to say I almost flewover VP Cheney...almost.

On a different note:

As for my delenquency in blogging, I appologize. I would also like to appologize for any pocket calls I might have made to any and all of my readers. And if your into that kind of thing, just wait, you might be next.

Kilroy was here!

Flying Fiasco...

So there I was...

...minding my own business on the bus on Tuesday, trying to go fly. (We have to take an hour long bus ride to the airport since our runway is being redone. ) But let's back up, shall we?

So I get to work on Tuesday morning to find out that the plane we are supposed to fly is broken, but don't worry, we have a spare...oh, but wait, the spare is broken too, but it is supposed to be fixed by the time we get there. I suggested that we call it a day right then, but no one listened to me. By that evening, they all agreed with me.

So we got on the bus, like I said earlier, to drive to Lincoln in the hopes that one of our jets would be fixed in time for us to take off. Well about halfway there the bus begins to coast to a halt on the highway, the bus driver didn't tell us anything until we ask what was going on. Come to find out the engine has some light that when it lights up, the engine shuts down. Well the light was on, and we were stranded on the side of the road. Luckily it was only 85 degrees instead of 100 like last week, but the humidity was about 85% too. So we stood outside the bus for an hour waiting for another bus to come save us.

It did, and we finally got to Lincoln an hour late only to find out that our jets were still broken. We went inside and sat while the instructor and aircraft commander tried to figure out when it would be ready to go. After an hour of waiting they had narrowed it down to either an hour from then (about 5:30pm) or 11 o'clock that night. Finally the commander down there decided for us that we should call it a day and go home.

So lets recap, we leave base knowing that our planes are broken for an hour bus ride. The bus breaks down on the way. We finally get there, and as we were told before we left, the planes are all broken. But (as they say on the Price is Right) WAIT THERE"S MORE!!! We got on the bus and headed home. Once agian we are on the highway when the we notice the bus is getting warm, (A/C is off) and it is once again coasting to a stop. At least we made it off the highway this time, but once again we waited for an hour, for the third bus to come rescue us. (IF you can't tell, like many Government contracts, the lowest bidder won the bus contract. WHAT A DAY.

Well, I went flying on Thursday, and since there were six jets we could take this time, we managed to get one off the ground. The flight was fairly uneventful, but we did have to avoid some pretty bad weather, which was interesting.

Kilroy was here!

Jelaine's Curtains - or - An Inspiration for "E"

So there I was...showing Jelaine's mom the new curtains via the webcam. I know I sound like a geek, but whatever. Jelaine made these curtains by herself, and I am really proud of her. I want to show you all. What it took to get these pictures is a whole 'nother story. I had to reconnect my computer, webcam and cable modem in the basement and run the long cords back up to the first floor. It's ok, it was worth it. So here they are.

Aren't they great? Jelaine is amazing!

This brings me to my second reason for this post. As most of you know, I am constantly trying to convince E to come up here and live with me while Jelaine is at school. So asyet another futile attempt in luring him up here, as well as a way to show the rest of you our new basement digs, I am adding some pictures of developing "SWAMP." You migt even notice that the basement is rug is green...that's kind of swampish. :-)

So it isn't a whole lot to look at yet, but eventually Jelaine's Futon will be down there and maybe one of those Luv Sacs you see in the mall. Plus Jelaine already has the TV stand her parents gave us that will replace the trunk under the TV. As for the rest of the basement. That is all for you "E".

We also plan on using all this great space for our company over New Years! :-) Or maybe we can just build a giant fort down here. I have started collecting the boxes already.

I guess that is enough for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Kilroy was here!

This ain't your daddy's air force...

...but it might be his airplane.


Ok, so I have had three flights now and haven't told you about any of them. My training flights are in a plane like the one above. One of my co-copilots gave me that phrase above. I wish it weren't true but it is. Our fleet was built in the 1960s. It has been modified a lot since, but it is still the old airframe. That's crazy huh? The most recent upgrade has been the engines. They are now much bigger than the ones above. In fact the inboard engines only have 18 inches of clearance from the ground. That makes it very important that we land on centerline with less than 2 degrees of bank in our wings or else we scrape a pod (engine). That being said, I'll tell you I have gotten 17 landings in my 3 flights. I only had 2 unsuccessful attempts. Both of witch I did actually touchdown but my IP called a go-around right before. That's really not bad. In fact my two landings yesterday were actually quite nice. The guys in the back of the plane actually said they slept right through it! :-)

For real, the guys in the back all have important jobs, but they get all of their work done when we are up high flying around in circles, then they just have to hang on for dear life in the back while we practice landings. So for them to say that they slept through my landings is pretty good. As far as what they do back there I honestly don't know. One of these days I will get the chance to walk back there and find out.

As for memorable experiences in my first few flights, I have two I will elaborate on. First air refueling:

So there I was...one of two 250,000 lb aircraft flying 275 knots, at 26,000 feet above sea level, twelve feet apart, connected by an aluminum straw full of jet fuel.

(Use your imagination to insert a picture here since Blogspot isn't cooperating with me tonight. Or if your imagination isn't too good, just look at the sidebar...I figured out how to post the pic another way.)

Sounds pretty crazy huh? Well it is but it is cool, and neccessary. I haven't gotten to actually be at the controls when we were in contact, but watching it is awesome. I can see out the "eyebrow" window (the window above our heads) and at one point the refueling boom was only about a foot and a half away from it. That was awesome. The picture above is what it would look like from the refueler to look at us while we were refueling. I can't find any pics from our point of view.

The other really cool thing that happened was yesterday while we were orbiting over Oklahoma. We were in a right hand turn in an orbit for the back end when I glanced out the pilot's side (left side), and saw an airplane come out from under ours. It was about 2000 feet below us and I did a double take when I realized it was a Buff (B-52) Bomber. I said "look at that! It's a buff!" Everyone else was surprized and even the instructor navigator got out of his seat to come look, since he used to be a nav on B-52s. 2000 ft is pretty close. Not so close as to be dangerous, but even so it was a bit surprizing to see a plane that big flying right under where we were turning. It was cool.

I think that is enough for now. I would ahve put a picture of the Cobra Ball here but again I couldn't get it to load. I'll try again later.

Kilroy was here!

Sidebar sorrows...

So there I was...

Sitting at the computer, about to tell everyone about my first flight today...when I realized that not a single person has commented on my sidebar riddle. It may be important to one of you out there but I can't tell you who. That's part of the riddle. Anyway, I'm not telling you about my flight until someone at least acknowledges it's there. I mean, I even changed the subtitle of the whole page just so you would notice. GOSH!!! :-)

Kilroy was here!

PS: ARRRRR! (said with a pirate accent)

First flight...more to come

So there I was...

Awwww, forget it...I'm not doing it tonight. Besides they keep getting gradually worse and worse. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that tomorrow is my first real flight in my new jet. We are going to do a bunch of Touch and Go's, climb out, do a Nav section (where we set the autopilot and the Navigator programs the plane to tell it where to go and then follows the terrain with the radar), an air refueling, and a few more Touch and Go's before the final landing. 5.5 hrs in all. Crazy huh? What's even crazier is that I might get a chance to do part of the air refueling. I mean all the way up to contact (that's where the refueler's boom is in contact with our receptacle.) Maybe...

I won't be getting home till like 1130 tomorrow so don't plan on an update till at least Thursday. But most of you won't read this till tomorrow evening anyway. Pray for me if you read this before 2100. That is when we land.

Blue Skies and God Speed

Kilroy was here!

How to improve your game in one easy lesson...

So there I was...

Reading Justin's blog, in a hopeless ploy to catch up on my friend's lives when I run into his protest. So what can I say, I have been a bit preoccupied. But Justin has every right to protest. And I am not making excuses; I'll just admit that I am a terrible friend. So I am sorry. I am such a terrible friend in fact that I didn't even get to say goodbye to Andy before he left to see the world. I really SUCK.

That being said, let me attempt to catch up...oh wait, Jelaine already did a phenomenal job of that already. She has tons of pictures and stuff on her post so check it out. She did forget a few details though. The biggest of which was that the day of her post was our second wedding anniversary. She did tell you how we celebrated it by driving to Salina. It is surprisingly a nice little town. They don't allow pets in the mall though (just in case you were wondering).

Let me tell you more about our golf outing though...because it was hilarious and pathetic. When Jelaine and I say we went golfing, we don't really mean it. Just ask Trey about when we went with him. First of all I have an incurable slice (I mean bad). So bad in fact that I can't help but put my ball on the fairway every time...the next fairway over that is. This course was no different. To make matters worse this was a 6 hole golf course. A six hole course made for kids learning how to golf. I mean less than par 3 if that were possible. The longest hole is 169 yds and the shortest is 85. Jelaine can hit it straight and for a girl who hasn't played much has a descent stroke, I on the other hand do not. Luckily we were virtually the only ones on the course and we were able to tee off at least twice per hole. We didn't play best ball, we played both balls and took the lower of the two scores.

I did discover my one gift though. That is pitching. After I teed off onto the opposite fairway (every hole) I managed to pitch it within ten feet of the hole most of the time...even when I couldn't see the pin. Jelaine is a bipolar golfer though. She either nails it or it goes rolling ten feet off the box. We are a sight on a golf course. It’s a good thing that Legend was the only one there to see us. That's right; we took our dog with us on the golf course. Don't know it that is against golf etiquette but we did it anyway.

I have to brag a little though, because on the last hole, I teed off, hit a straight shot and put the ball right on the green. It was pretty awesome...well unless you take into account that it was a 169 yard hold and I used a 5 WOOD, and came up short on the green.

I won't talk about our short games, but let’s just say we should spend some more time at Putt-Putt.

Well that's enough for now. I hope if your golf game was getting you down, you can now reassure yourself that there is someone out there worse than you.

Kilroy was here!

The symbol...

So there I was...

Blogging twice in one night. You will have to read the previous post to understand this one. Sorry, I couldn't get this pic to load on the last blog.

Well, if you saw the symbol last night I would have been blogging twice in one night, but I changed it tonight. So now I can say I blogged two nights in a row. Good night, all.

Kilroy was here!

Can you guess what my middle name is?

You guessed it: Procrastination...

So there I was...realizing it had been almost an entire month since I had blogged. I also realized that so much had happened since my last blog, that I didn't have anything to blog about.

I guess that isn't true. In reality there is so much, I am going to attempt to give you the Reader's digest version. So here goes:

At the beginning of the month I started real academic classes for my new airplane. That it the main reason blogging went by the wayside. On the 5th I had this great story to tell you all: It was about how I saw this high school girl drop a shoe out of her bag while walking home and so I went back in my car picked up the shoe off the side of the road and proceeded to follow her home...needless to say when I rolled down the window and asked her if she wanted any candy, she grabbed the shoe and ran! :-) No not really, but she was a bit freaked out...I don't even remember is said thanks...but on to the rest of the month.

Some time in between classes and simulators and studying like 6 hours a night I managed to water my lawn at least every other day. (Justin, I am starting to think you were right about the sprinkler system...especially since my cool tractor sprinkler has broken three times already and I am going back this week to replace again) I also try to cook dinner for myself most nights, so J doesn't get upset with me for not eating.

Lets see, I went to a minor league ball game either the first or second Friday. There were fireworks! I went to a men's breakfast at the church I am going to here. I finally got rid of all the empty boxes, now I just have to finish unpacking the others.

Two weekends ago, I went and saw my brother-in-law graduate from med school but you already know about that because you have read J's blog. Well, this last weekend was a 4 day weekend because of memorial day so I made a whirlwind road trip. (one almost worthy of a name Trey!) Oklahoma City Thursday night, Fort Worth Saturday morning, OKC Sunday evening, Omaha, Monday afternoon. Needless to say it was exhausting but awesome. I saw J and my family, including getting to see my sister the country singer do a gig. And of course I saw, E, but like mom said, he's pretty much a brother so he falls under family. If not family, he's definitely my middle finger.

Ok, so finally, I wanted to let the boyz know that I have decided I would get a tattoo if all of them got the same one. I was thinking the gone home symbol. Speaking of symbols I have a great idea for ours. I'll see if I can make up a picture and post it soon.

That's more than enough for now. I hope to catch up on all of your blogs soon.

Kilroy was here!

A weekend with My Love...

So there I was...spending my first weekend with Jelaine in our new house. It was awesome!

We went to The Melting Pot on Friday. We drove down to Lincoln to see Swan Lake and have Mongolian BBQ on Saturday. We went to the Omaha Bible Church on Sunday, which I think I am going to keep going to...we bought some cool stuff for our dining room and the guest bathroom. Jelaine helped me nearly finish unpacking and decorating the house. And on Sunday night we enjoyed cooking dinner together at home and sharing a bottle of this great Washington State Syrah (Arbor Crest). On Monday, Jelaine got a massage while I went to work for a little bit and then we spent a little more time going through a Menards (hardware store) dreaming about all the things we were going to buy for the house.

Jelaine had delays, as always, at the airport, but other than that it was great! So now you know why I didn't blog all weekend. Not to mention the fact that I just started class up here and after a long day staring at computer based lessons or running around base for misc training events, I come home and water my new sod, cook my dinner, feed the fish and unpack boxes...needless to say I haven't had much time. So to my adoring fans, my deepest apologies. As for catching up on all your blogs, your going to have to give me a few more days.

I did want to tell you about this barbershop group I went to tonight though. This is a new one...actually an old one...the oldest in Nebraska. And they are great! Small, like 20 memebers, but really a really quality group. And their average age is probably 20 years yonger than the Sarpy Serenaders. This group is the Heartland Harmonizers. You can find them on the web. Good Group! Anyway, now I have to go to bed. So good night.

Kilroy was here!

New home headaches and adventures...

So there I was...

With Trey, in my new house only two days when I go to the basement to find it full of water..."OH NO!!!!" Yes that's right, I've already had my basement flooded...well, kind of. I thought it was the air conditioner leaking since the large puddle just happened to be under and around my air conditioning unit. Come to find out though, it was all Trey's fault.

When the warranty guy came out, I remembered that before I had found the puddle in my basement, I had found a wet spot on the carpet in my pantry. Well I thought I had spilled some water from the trash that was sitting in there, but I hadn't. I put two and two together and realized that the main bath tub was directly above the pantry and the pantry was directly above the air conditioner.

So now the plumbers came out and figured out that there was a faulty O-ring (good thing it wasn't a space shuttle) in the faucet and it was allowing water to leak into the wall and down two stories into the basement, stopping off to ruin the pantry carpet on the way. So, long story short, the faucet is fixed and the water in the basement is almost gone, but now I have to wait and see if there is any damage to the walls or floors. BLAH!!!

Other than that, thanks to Trey and some other buddies up here and no thanks to the movers (who broke or scratch about 95% of my furniture and about 15% of my appliances and dishes) the house is coming together nicely. Jelaine even gets to come see it all for the first time next weekend. How would you like for someone to have your whole house set up for you a week before you got there...lucky!

Oh, and Trey got to cook the first meal on our stove and in our oven, and guess what J? He was the first one to set off our fire alarms. That's right, we didn't even make it one meal before they went off. I say they, because in these new fangled houses when one goes off, they all go off...and I have 6! :-)

Well, that's all for now, just saying hello from Cornhuskertonfieldville. God Bless.

Kilroy was here!

Only 22661234 seconds until New Years...

So there I was...trying once again to make New Years plans for the boyz. Ok, I know that there are still 262 days until New Years, but it is never too early to start. I've talked to a few of you, but now it is time to reveal the plan to all.

What spurred this desire to reveal my plan, you ask? Well it is J10's new job. I am hoping that with working for an airline company, he gets certain discounts and benefits from said company. So that gives him no excuse not to want to travel! :-)

So here it is: We should all meet in Omaha, NE, at Jelaine and my house! Now I know what you are all saying...that I am being selfish and that I don't want to have to travel...but that my friends is not the case. I have done my research, and it is the best option, hands down.

I began by looking at the map of the US. If you do so, you will quickly notice that Omaha is somewhat centralized between all of the new homes of the Boyz. Next I thought about travel arrangements. Before J10 got the new job I thought, he and his bride and E could all ride together, T3 and V would obviously come together, AB has cheap fare because of his father and ScTR has to travel regardless. But I didn't stop there...

I did the math: (driving times)

Dallas - Omaha: 11 hrs
Ft. Worth - Omaha: 11 hrs
Rancho Cucamonga - Omaha: 21 hrs
Chicago - Omaha: 7 hrs 30 min
Dayton - Omaha: 12 hrs
Seattle - Omaha: 21 hrs

Rancho Cucamonga - Dallas: 20 hrs
Chicago - Dallas: 14 hrs
Dayton - Dallas: 12 hrs
Seattle - Dallas: forget about it...

So there it is, even if everyone drove, the only person that would save on drive time would be ScTR and it would be by less than an hour.

So, I think I've made my point. And I've put it out there early enough that we should all be able to make the necessary arrangements.

So I guess all that is left is a vote. All in favor, say Aye...

Kilroy was here!

Nothing to do...

So there I was...0'930 on a Wednesday, done with my in-processing checklist and asking the orderly room guys what was next. He said "nothing." I don't have my base in-processing stuff till next Thursday, so that is like 8 days with nothing to do. I know I shouldn't complain about this, so I won't, but I have been doing a whole lot of nothing for a while now and believe it or not you eventually get tired of it.

The good news is I have discovered a few things here to keep me somewhat occupied. I get to work out on base every day...and now that "E" and T3 are doing the president's challenge with J and I, I am more motivated than ever. That and J has like twice as many points as me so I have a lot of work to do. :-) Next, there is the place right next to where I am staying right now that has these cool massage beds, and the best thing is their absolutely free! They are sweet! And I am going to go every day after I work out. Then there's the Sarpy Serenaders on Mondays and minor league baseball every chance I get! So, I should be good until I get the house and the to do list has already begun for that. First on the list is sealing the tile grout and taking care of the lawn. So if you know how to do either one of those pretty well, share your insight.

Until then, I have to stop procrastinating on the workout so I can get to the massage.

Kilroy was here!

Harmony, harmony, oh how I love barbershop harmony...

So there I was...sitting amongst a rather crusty group of men with various styles of comb-overs and facial hair. We were making music together. I mean real music! The barbershop kind. It was awesome! The group is called the Sarpy Serenaders. Sarpy is the county we are going to be living in up here. The group is pretty good. It's small as far as barbershop choruses go I think. There were about 7 bases (including me), 5 leads, 3-4 tenors and 2 baritones. The average age of the group I think would be around 75 if it weren't for the three younger guys to bring it down drastically. I think one of the leads is in college, one of the tenors is maybe in high school, maybe college and then there's me. Really though, it surprised me that they sounded some good when I began to notice that nearly half of them wore hearing aids! NOT KIDDING!

But needless to say, the men are all great! Several of them are retired Air Force guys, which is cool and they were all sharing their stories with me during the break. Speaking of the break, when we went out to the foyer (where Jelaine was sitting reading our new home warranty manual) they all got in a little huddle and then turned around and started serenading my her with "Let me call you Sweetheart." It was great!

Tonight, I might even go to a baseball game where they are going to sing the National Anthem. And if there's one way to make a baseball game better it is to start it with a barbershop quartet singing the national anthem.

Finally, I would like to explain, for most of you other than E and T3 that what J was trying to remember on her blog was SPEBSQSA. This stands for the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of BarberShop Quartet Singing in America.

Anyway, we'll get some pics of the house out soon. Today we go to the official orientation/walk through. Should be fun! Unfortunately, Jelaine has to head back to OKC as soon as we are done there. Pray for a safe trip for her.

Kilroy was here!

A real quick one...

So there I was...computerless, homeless, and in Omaha. At least J is here with me! :-) But I have been trying desperately to catch up on everyone else's blogs since being unable to get to the internet since last Sunday. Now that I have, it has taken me an hour to get through everyone else's and J is getting bored. So this one has to be quick.

The big news is that we have see our beautiful new house and we are totally excited! We took pictures last night after sneaking in the basement window to look through it all again. We'll get those out to you guys soon!

Anyway, hope all of you are well. We'll be seeing T3 and hopefully V soon, as they may be coming this way to help me get our stuff settled in. Pray for J and I while we are apart. But while we are together I should stop wasting so much time on the computer and spend it with her!

Kilroy was here!

The President's Challenge - or - Badgers, we don't need no stinking Badgers

So there I was...

Riding the stationary bike, watching the Reds and the Red Socks and dripping with sweat. I was thinking about how much I love baseball. I have to admit thought that I was pretty confused cause both teams were wearing solid red jerseys. The sox were wearing the white pants though. Well, needless to say I had a great workout. Today I also lifted biceps and triceps. One most rewarding things for me about lifting weights is getting to check myself out in the mirror after I lift. I know it sounds vane, but I am sure you guys have noticed how your muscles are abnormally large after you lift due to all the blood rushing to those muscles. You should have seen my guns today! ;-) I have to be discreet though, cause I don't want to be one of those guys in the locker room who unabashedly checks himself out. In reality, me checking myself out is more like one of those TV shows where the little kid is flexing in his bedroom mirror than anything else.

But that brings me to my desired topic of discussion: THE PRESIDENT'S CHALLENGE. Now I know you all want to be in better shape...everyone except V that is, cause she runs like 50 miles a day, that is until she broke her foot. I also know that most of you have already gotten my wife's email about the PC, but I am going to tell you about it again because none of you have signed up yet. Jelaine and I have started a group called "The Boyz+some" and want you to join. There are medals awarded after you log so many points and stuff and it is a cool way for us to encourage each other to exercise more. I know you may not have much time, but there are different levels for different people. Just do me a favor and check it out. It is fun to log what you do, and you can even log stuff like mowing the lawn or stretching or other stuff that you wouldn't think counts. "E" could log walking when he makes his laps in the airport. Anyway, here's the link I think: http://www.presidentschallenge.org . Check it out. Jelaine is leading the group right now in points! Hard for me to admit, but I'll just have to work harder.

Oh and about the badger thing...I just wanted to say that.

Kilroy was here!

Not dead - or - how bout some nicknames?

So there I was...

Looking at everyone elses blogs for like a week. I was commenting on all of them and enjoying the creativity of them all when I realized that I hadn't written my own in forever. Obviously you all know that I am not dead, but I just want to reasure you. I have decided that I have fallen victim to what Trey refers to as Bloggers Block.

So with nothing better to talk about I wanted to briefly mention my thoughts on new nicknames for the boyz. I began to think about it when My Love began referring to me as A2. So the others would be as follows: The original "E", of course, then S-man, TJ and JT. If you are confused by any of them, you may feel free to comment. But if we can't come up with better, we could begin using these abbreviations to protect the innocent. As if any one of us was... :-)

Anyway, as my wife said earlier oin her blog, I am going to go spend some time with her before we are off to bed. MMMM...Ice Cream!

Kilroy was here!
A2

Bong!

Lost my heart in Spokane...almost.

So there I was...

in bed, 0930 on Sunday morning, when housekeeping knocks at the door. So I tell them, "ONE MOMENT," as I jump out of bed reach for the nearest pair of pants and shirt, slide my flip-flops on, and go to the door. They asked me if I wanted room service, and I said yes, cause I sure don't want to make my own bed.

Well I decided that if I was up I might as well go get some breakfast. Lucky for me, on Sundays brunch runs from like 0-dark-30 till 1330, that's 1:30 pm for you non-military/European types. So I had some freshly made french toast and eggs over medium, and then headed back to the room.

When I got back, I saw that my bed was neatly made...but something was missing...MY HEART!!! :-( Where did it go? I know I had it with me when I woke up. Did that guy steal it? Why would anyone want to steal a stuff red heart that says "Lover Boy" on it?

(Ok, I know most of you are wondering why I have a stuffed heart that says that...and more importantly why I brought it to WA with me. Well, my wife gave it to me for Valentine's Day. And I have it with me every night...so :-P Laugh if you want to.)

Anyway, so I walked down all the second floor hallways, and most of the first, looking for this guy...to no avail. I called housekeeping and got the answering machine. I was out of options. So, I decided to prop my door open and stake out the hallway for his return. Sure enough he finally came back and I asked him if he had accidentally rolled it up in the old sheets. He had, and I got it back. But I can't help but think he was laughing at me, a grown man carrying around a stuffed heart. All I know is that if he would have lost it, I would have stuffed his heart. (And those of you who know my dad, shouldn't doubt that I could do it. :-)

So don't worry dear, I didn't lose it. I took it back to my room and curled up in the fetal position with it for a few minutes...and then decided to blog about it. :-)

Kilroy was here!

The Taste of Freedom...

So there I was...

Pondering the experiences of the last few days. I was reminded of a quote that hit home this week. "For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know." I don't repeat this quote lightly. I don't even claim to understand it fully, for I am one of the "protected." I have yet to serve my country in any significant measure. I have yet to fully sacrifice self for others. I am indebted to those who have though, and I want to say thank you.

The last few days have opened my eyes to a few things, and one of those is the extent to which I have to take my freedom for granted. There are so many heroes out there that have given of themselves freely, voluntarily, and sacrificially for me, my family, and my friends. These heroes sit in the shadows and play down what they have done, but their service should not go unnoticed. One such hero is E's dad, Roland. He is a hero to us all, and yet his humble admittance of his service in one of America's most difficult and complicated conflicts is rarely acknowledged. Trey is also an America hero. Some would laugh at this, including Trey perhaps, but his service and sacrifice should not be overlooked. He has brought life and hope and morale to his comrades and coworkers for several years now and I want him to know it is not superficial.

The other American heroes are the families of those who serve or have served: Debbie, Alyssa, E, Viki, and the countless others. Each have sacrificed hopes and dreams, life goals and more...sometimes temporarily, sometimes all together, just to support their heroes. Some have spent days, months and even years away from their loved ones praying vigilantly for their return. And even after their return, some have had to accept losing a part of their heroes to the memories and experiences they have forcefully subdued in their minds to protect those they have returned to. All the time, never realizing that they are the drive, the inspiration, the very reason their heroes do what they do.

We should all recognize these selfless acts of service. Until we do, we will never stop taking for granted the freedoms we have. We should look upon our heroes with dignity, respect, and even awe. We should keep foremost in our minds the question, "What does freedom truly taste like," and yet hope never really have to know. Because I imagine it may not always be such a sweet and glorious taste. Like wine, it is necessary that it take on a bitter, even sour one sometimes to remind us that it must be nurtured...protected, so that it may age properly and mature into a rich, deep, and palatable flavor. Freedom isn't free, but let us thank those who have given of thier own freedoms to protect ours. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

God Bless our American Heroes!

P. O.ed

So there I was...

I had just finished another funny blog. This time it was about the Febreze monkey. I really want one! Well, I decided to finally use the spell checker on this site so Jelaine and Viki wouldn't have to correct me, and when I did, it went to some other web page and lost my whole blog. It was really long and I am tired and am not going to write it again. So screw spell check.

By the way, the monkey story was to ask you all to buy me one if you could find one since Jelaine wouldn't let me buy it for myself. If you can't find the actual monkey, find a picture of it for me so I can put it on my blog. PLEASE!!!

Kilroy was here!

PS: Tomorrow I return to the RT Lab so say another prayer for me please. I won't be posting again till Wednesday.

The world's greatest brownie - or - a big brown mess of goo...

So there I was...

Preparing to cook my gourmet hungry-man dinner in the microwave. I was carefully following the instructions to pull back the plastic cover on the brownie when I noticed that it really wasn't a brownie at all. It was basically frozen brownie batter. I figured they must know what they were doing and in 4.5 minutes on high in the microwave it would become a tasty dessert. So following the 4.5 minutes, I eaglery removed my lunch and continued cautiously with the instructions. Next I had to remove the so called brownie from the tray and set it aside. It came out, but in a semi-liquid form and not at all in one piece.

Well, i let it sit while the rest of the food was prepared and consumed. I then returned to the brown pile of gew. (On a side note: How do you spell gew. Sounds like dew with a g to me, but it doesn't look quite right.) Anyway, I have a bite, and low and behold, although still not solidified or very brownie like in form, it was one of the tastiest brownie piles I have ever had.

Moral of this little tale: You can't have a drink on the house...no wait, there I go mixing up my stories again. The moral of this story is if you want a tasty dessert and you will still have room after "OVER 1 LB. OF FOOD" (right there on the box)...pick yourself up a hungry-man dinner next time you're in the frozen foods section.

Kilroy was here!

At the mercy of others...

So there I was...

Sitting in the auditorium, with some good friends. When, out of nowhere, come five men dressed in black, armed to the teeth to hold us all hostage.

No wait, that was in high school, when the Haltom City SWAT team was having a practice hostage situation. I am getting my stories confused. That one turned out much better in the end. I mean sure "E" got killed in the foyer when the SWAT guys busted in and took out all the terrorist. But I got traded for pizza and got a free lunch up at the fire department, so it wasn't all bad.

Anyway, I made it through the first day of RT. The next few days are classroom stuff, but I guarantee you I will be paying attention in these classes. I'll be thinking about you all while I am up here in snowy Spokane.

Kilroy was here!

Evergreens, Starbucks, and a box JUST big enough for me...

So there I was...

Fairchild AFB, WA. Getting ready for bed. My last night as a free man. At least for now, because tomorrow I start a portion of Air Force training referred to as RT (Resistance Training). I won't be able to tell you anything about it though. First and foremost because I don't know anything about it myself, and second because I'd have to kill you if I did.

Suffice to say the title above, covers all the things that this part of the world has in common at this point.

Say a prayer for me tomorrow wherever you are. I'm going to need all I can get. God bless.

Kilroy was here!

A salute to The Boyz - or - the adventures begin.

So there I was...

New Years Eve, standing behind the fence of an apartment complex in Haltom City, TX. Just me, four of my best friends a jar of peanut butter and unsuspecting Andy...

For those of you who were there you know what comes next. For the rest of you...it's none of your beeswax. :-)

Back to the present:

My wife came home last night from a trip to San Antonio. It was kind of a geeks convention. She is a physisist you see. But she came home last night after stopping off in DFW to see my best friend who works at the airport. (Questionable at best, but what can you do, he's my best friend...) When she arrived, she proceeded to roll her lugage into the house. She rolled it through the kitchen and set it down, tripping over it in the process. Then I asked her to take it to the bedroom. So she did, tripping over it multiple times on the way. (She is obviously very smart, but she is also quite clumsy sometimes especially when she is being silly, and believe me as you will soon see she was being very silly.)

Well she got to the bedroom with the light still off as I followed to make sure she doesn't break something. Then she remembered that she was hungry. So what does she do but open her lugage to retrieve a pizza. (Now it should be noted that this was not carry on lugage, but lugage that was checked. It should also be noted that the pizza was purchased in San Antonio three days ago at the California Pizza Kitchen.) The story continues: She doesn't take the full size pizza box to the kithen to heat it up, but she sits on the floor in the dark, opens the box and begins eating a piece of her leftover pizza...and then wonders why I am laughing histerically on the bed beside her.

I love my wife! We have so much fun laughing at, I mean with, each other.

If you've made it this far through my ramblings though, I do have one more comment to make. This one is directed to "E"...BONG!!!

Kilroy was here!

Unoriginal Armand...

So there I was...

Now I know what you are thinking. "What the heck Armand, I know you are more creative than that. Just because you are a pilot you think every story should start with, 'so there I was?'" That however is only partly true. Some of you who know me better might think that I have creativity flowing at Mach speeds through my veins, but I also have a side that likes patterns, order, and tradition. So, we are going to try, at least for the time being, to have a theme to my new blog entries.

..."And now", as my favorite newscaster would say, "the rest of the story:"

So there I was...sitting at Obadiah's apartment in Enid, OK, trying to come up with my very first blog. It was pretty exciting. I just helped my beautiful wife create hers a few days ago following the inspiring examples of our Italian friends, Trey and Viki. And now it was my turn. But alas, I had nothing important or profound to say. Just the ramblings on of a man stuck in a friend's apartment while his wife was at a conference in San Antonio. Not to worry, she will return tomorrow. And then, the true adventures of Armand will continue. But until then, to those select few of you who might have another reason to start a story with "so there I was", other than being a pilot...I'll leave you with the knowledge that I WANNA GO BACK TO...well, you already know the rest of the story.

Kilroy was here!